Dani's Tales:Walker
by Telepathapprentice
Summary: A small bit of story relating some of what happened to Dani during her teenage years.
1. Chapter 1

**Dani's Untold Tales-Walker  
Chapter 1**

**I know this story might be slightly off-canon, but any flames will be welcomed and used to light my late-night writing sessions. **

**I do not own DP. If I did, the episodes would be longer. Muuuucch longer.**

Dani collapsed onto the floating endoplasmic rock, her body barely able to support her after the hours of running and floating. She shuddered with fatigue, her chest still rising and falling with the impression of breathing, although it didn't help any. Curling into a ball, she closed her eyes and tried to forget the pain coursing through her body.

She was older than her "cousin" would have remembered her, and no stranger to pain, but after Amity started seeing her as a ghostly menace, she decided it would be better for all if she just fled to live in the Ghost Zone. However, her time there had been spent mostly running from other ghosts with oaths against any halfa. Exhaustion overwhelmed her muscles, and she succumbed to sleep. The cold of the Ghost Zone numbed her fingers, but she hadn't been warm for years now…An ironic smile crossed her face…she hadn't left this place for years.

Movement around her interrupted her thoughts. She squeezed her eyes together even tighter, trying to ignore the light and dark flashes around her, but she was grabbed by both arms and hauled to her feet by two…somethings.

"Open your eyes, punk."

She struggled to do as it asked, looking up to see a tall, white ghost standing before her regally.

"Walker."

"So you know who I am. Good. You should also know what I can do. If you resist…pain is assured."

Dani's eyes fluttered open for good this time, and she looked up at the merciless warder. Realizing that it would be useless to argue, she instead asked, "What is my charge?"

"Silent, pri-"

"Quiet, captain. He-She can know what she's done." He leveled his gaze on her. "For consorting with the human world, being an unregistered ghost, and trespassing on _my_ property."

"Unregistered? Walker-"

"You shall be silent until we reach the prison, punk. If you speak, punishment shall be swift and painful. Bring her." He gestured to his guards, then turned and began floating back in the direction of the prison. Dani opened her mouth to protest, but decided against it and simply slumped in the arms of the guards. They were used to dealing with much more…restless prisoners, and didn't quite know how to handle the unmoving Dani.

"Miss?"

"What…" She looked up at the guard who had whispered to her.

"I-I'm sorry, I don't-"

"What are you saying?"

"We've never dealt with someone as young as you. Even that Phantom kid is older than you. So if-if I hurt you, then…I'm sorry."

"Thank you...I guess." She faltered in her floating and slumped down, resting in a fog of confusion before entering the prison. She watched as she was shuffled into a cell and wearily sat on the bench. All the guards were dismissed on Walkers order, and finally he stood alone in the hallway, facing Dani.


	2. Chapter 2

**Dani's Untold Tales-Walker-Chapter 2**

**This…story…will…be…finished…yet!**

"Walker?" Dani asked tiredly. "What **are** my charges?"

"I already told you, punk."

"Unregistered? What the heck does that mean? In the good old USA, a prisoner has a right to know what he's been arrested for."

"Well, obviously, girl, this isn't your USA. This is the Ghost Zone, where my word is law. I am the law." He turned and began pacing, oblivious to her rebellious glances.

"But-"

"You were found on one of the islands bordering my prison. Therefore, you were trespassing."

"There was no indication-"

"Silence!" He turned sharply to face her again. "As for your second question, all ghosts have some purpose in the Ghost Zone. A specific role to play, if you will. But you do not. Thus, your situation requires…correction."

"Explain."

He sighed tiredly. "As a halfa, your ghost half is unintentional. It was never supposed to be. It has no purpose in this world and is useless. Even the most menial ghost here has some purpose and cannot be….terminally removed from the Ghost Zone without our world collapsing. Every ghost literally holds the Ghost Zone together."

"How did you come up with all that junk?"

"My researchers have formulated, based on experiments, that since there is not two of any ghost, then the obsession of the one makes it essential to the Zone. The infernal Box Ghost, for an example, is the ghost of boxes, and since there is no other ghost of boxes, he must remain in the Zone to keep it stable and stably linked to your world."

"It's confusing, but utterly bogus. You are an undead, unseeing fool-"

"You shall treat me with respect!"

"So what's your obsession, then,….Walker?" She spat in disgust.

He glared at her for an eternity, an unusual expression overshadowing his blank features. Finally he turned, his footsteps echoing down the hall. Dani went from ghost to human and tried to stick her hand through the wall, but only met with another metal wall behind it. "Great. I must be in Danny's old cell. Walker thought of everything."

She curled up on the small bench, and though sleep seemed impossible, she drifted off relatively quickly, her mind filled with a confusing jumble of figures and words.

Walker stood before the halflings' cell, looking down at the sleeping young girl. The youngest inmate yet…Why? He thought angrily. Why her? Why…that? He turned away, hands clenched tightly behind his back. I shall not allow my…idiotic feelings to get in the way of this case. She must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and if she were free, her unstable nature could wreak havoc on the Zone. I will not let my obsession interfere.

His hands involuntarily clenched again, and he walked back the way he had come, his face a mask of stone.

**Now, all you perverts, get your minds out of the gutter. Walker's obsession is rather confusing to explain, but I will try my best. If you think I utterly failed, please go ahead and tell me so. Adieu!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Dani's Untold Tales-Walker-Chapter 3**

Dani spent several days in the prison without ever seeing Walker, although the guard that had first spoken to her when she was arrested began guarding her cell regularly. Her wounds from…previous adventures began healing, and she was almost well-cared for. She was kept in solitary the entire time, so she had no opportunity to escape, but began striking up conversations with her guard; first, out of boredom, but eventually, out of genuine interest. She found out that the guard had no name; none of them did; but he knew himself only as 2531.

He and the rest of the guards were what he called "native ectos". Apparently, their slight semi-consciousness had been in the Ghost Zone since the beginning of time. When Walker…ended up as a ghost, he developed their helmets, which solidified their forms, strengthened their minds, and made them the perfect guards. From then, all he knew was the prison.

"And you don't mind being used like that?"

"Before Walker came, we were despondent nothingness, the emotional run-off of Earth-your world. Now, we are at least useful for something."

Many of their conversations ended in this kind of debate, but eventually 2531's mind left that subject and returned to the normal everyday business of the prison. After the rough equivalent of 2 weeks had passed, he admitted to her, "The warden…has been acting a bit strange lately…Have you noticed?"

She looked up at the random statement. "I never see him, 2531. Besides, I don't know him well enough…." Trailing off, she turned back to her current project, which consisted of burning designs into the ecto-stone floor to keep from dying from boredom. The patterns faded away after an hour or so, but it was still something to do.

"He hasn't been doing his…I guess you'd call them 'rounds' lately. Ever since you arrived, he spends most of his time in his personal quarters."

"Is it something I've done?"

"You haven't done _anything_ since you got here." Under the helmet, 2531 smiled.

"But-"

"Guard!" Walker's voice carried down the hallway as he approached. "2531, release the prisoner but keep her restrained!"

"Sir?"

"Bring her to my personal quarters immediately. I have some questions to ask of her."

"Right away, sir." Walker watched as Dani was escorted out of her cell and handcuffed with ecto-restraints. One of Walker's few inventions, the restraints let out a powerful jolt that could critically disrupt ectoplasm if the wearer struggled or resisted. 2531 looked at Dani and shrugged as Walker turned to lead them to his personal quarters. The two ghosts led the halfling down the hall and up a series of stairs before stopping in front of a large, plain door. 2531 handed the restraint chains to Walker, who unlocked the door and ushered Dani inside. However, before he followed her, he turned to 2531 and said uncomfortably, "Thank you….2531. You may return to your duties."

With that, the door closed and 2531 was left in the hall, confused.

"You're…welcome, sir."


	4. Chapter 4

**Dani's Untold Tales-Walker-Chapter 4**

Dani stood before the steel desk as Walker sat behind it, spinning the chair to face away from her.

"So, Walker. What have you brought me here to ask?"

"Nothing." He spun back to face her, his eyes looking to the ground. "That was only an excuse."

"What?" Dani was suddenly, inexplicably frightened.

"I have brought you here…to tell…to tell you of my daughter."

"Your…daughter?"

"Yes." Walker rose and walked away from the table, facing the pointless window across the room. "Rose."

Dani was silent, and before long, Walker continued. "Her mother-my wife-died soon after Rose was born, and our nearest relative lived several states away. Outside of my work with the force…she was the only family I had."

"So what does this have to do with me?"

"When she was sixteen, she went missing. We eventually found her-" He paused and put a hand to his eyes, reliving the experience. "We found her under a bridge, with fourteen stab wounds. The…body was so decomposed, we couldn't tell whether or not she had been raped." He broke off, making the room eerily quiet. Dani slowly thought about what Walker had just told her, but then asked,

"She looked like me, didn't she?"

"Yes. She…you…it was less pronounced in the other Phantom punk, but seeing you…sleeping in the cell…" He stopped again, turning back to glance at her before sitting again. Dani stood uncomfortably before sitting cross-legged on the floor to the right of his desk. "Go on, Walker."

"Time had lost all meaning for me, here, in the Ghost Zone. My human memories…emotions…had been buried; I was Walker, law and its enforcer. You asked about my obsession?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "The punk who…who murdered Rose was never found. I died vowing to find him. As a ghost, I am obsessed with the Rules, the law…but more importantly, with finding and _punishing _lawbreakers. But when you came…all my memories came flooding back: Rose, her mother,…her body."

"But…"Dani stood, bewildered and not a little unmoved by his explanation. "Why tell me all this?"

"Because…" he finally looked to her where she stood, pacing. "I have decided to let you go."

"What?" She whirled around to face him.

"You are free." Pulling out a silver key, he stood and unlocked the ecto-restraints. She looked to her wrists, shocked speechless. "Why?"

"Do you think I could keep you here, every day, punishing you the way I intended to punish Rose's murderer? Every time I see you, I cannot help but think of her. You are free."

"What about Danny?" she blurted. He glared at her and stalked away, coming to stand behind his chair. "He doesn't matter."

Dani shook her head, confused. She opened her mouth to speak, but instead decided to run while she had the chance, sprinting across the room and leaping out the window to fly away across the Ghost Zone. After a few seconds, a siren went off at the top of every guard tower, and a hesitant knock came from Walker's door.

"Come in."

"Sir?" A sentry hurried in. "Our outer defenses have been breached from the inside, and the small bit of ectoplasmic scanning we were able to manage indicated…a halfa, sir!"

Walker looked out his window, knowing what would happen next. More guards piled in, their leader looking to Walker. "Sir? Do we pursue it?"

"No." Let her go. Let her go free.

**If there are any questions of canonicity or flames about Walker's personality, please review or PM my profile.**


End file.
